Tobias Jesso, Jr. - Goon [2015]

[Josh Hurst]

This record has been getting a lot of buzz-- it was BNM'd on Pitchfork, and the man was enthusiastically received by both Jimmy Fallon and Conan O'Brien-- but in the end it's really a low-key affair: A piano-based singer-songwriter record that throws it back to the 70s, and in particular to the earliest albums from Randy Newman and Tom Waits. Jesso doesn't have as much personality as either of them, but he does have some strong melodies and a great voice. The pleasures of the album are all in its craft; at first it seems unassuming and perhaps even unremarkable, but it really gains in charm and appeal after you spin it a couple of times.